Early Christmas Presents

Today I got two early Christmas presents from GO transit. 1. The train was at the station waiting when I got there and ran on time; and 2. the parking lot at the train station was plowed. It is just sad that these two things have become so unexpected. Let's hope they give me a third present and get me home on time.

Despite the great gifts above, I am still waiting for one of my Christmas wishes to come true. Having Pierre McGuire not do the World Junior hockey championship broadcasts. When I hear his broadcasts the phrase 'beating a dead horse' comes to mind as he mentions a useless fact and then reiterates it for another ten minutes. Thankfully televisions come with a mute feature.

The Ants Go Marching 2 By 2...

Until they come to a set of doors or stairs that is.

Every day after work, us ants go marching towards Union Station and the train platforms on our way home. We cram through several sets of double doors and even climb some stairs, most with sufficient room for two. Seems like a pretty straight forward exercise doesn't it? Pretty mundane; not worth writing about. I would tend to agree but unfortunately, the double door system is too much for most to comprehend. People avoid the second door like it is death itself and create a needless bottle neck as they force their way through the single door.

When this occurs at the bottom of the stairs I can at least understand because the one door is generally propped open. People are lazy and go for the easiest choice. When this occurs at the top of the stairs, with both doors closed, it just floors me. Take last night for example. I was walking up the stairs with someone on my left as we approached the doors. Both were closed at the time but instead of opening the door on the left, this person chooses the one on the right for some unknown reason. I sure did laugh when this person walked into the door as I reached to open it instead only stopping it's progress. Of course it was unintentional.

My lesson here likely had as much affect on this person as my not slowing down when being cut off walking does to those tripping over my feet.

November 2008 Quotes

Good looks are cheap in a wealthy country.
- Stephen King (Nona)

It requires a great country and great circumstances to develop great men.
- Charles Hibbert Tupper

The word is always a democracy in times of flux, and the man with the best voice will win.
- Orson Scott Card (Ender's Game)

Making something happen in the environment around them gives human beings a sense of competence. That, in turn, gives them pleasure.
- Bob Cullen (Why Golf?)

It is a poor head…that cannot find plausible reason for doing what the heart wants to do.
- William Jennings Bryan

Now, however, I have delayed so long that henceforward I should be afraid that I was committing a fault if, in continuing to deliberate, I expended time which should be devoted to action.
- Rene Descartes (Meditations on First Philosophy)

I thought that my invincible power
would hold the world captive,
leaving me in a freedom undisturbed.
Thus night and day I worked at the chain
with huge fires and cruel hard strokes.
When at last
the work was done,
I found that it held me in its grip
- Rabindranath Tagore

He had gone right through fear and come out the other side in some place cold. Anger was all that kept him warm.
- Robert Jordan (The Great Hunt)

It was beyond wise to enter battle angry. Anger narrowed the vision and made for foolish choices.
- Robert Jordan (New Spring)

You have a safe guide, an unfailing light, if you remember that faith is better than doubt and love is better than hate.
- Sir Wilfred Laurier

From the meanest creature one departs wiser, richer, more conscious of one's blessings.
- Samuel Beckett (Waiting for Godot)

But society has now fairly got the better of individuality; and the danger which threatens human nature is not the excess, but the deficiency, of personal impulses and preferences.
- John Stuart Mill (On Liberty)

Weird love’s better than no love at all.
- Stephen King (The Green Mile)

No human instinct is more powerful than the sex drive when it is fully aroused, and its awakening images are emotional tattoos that never leave us.
- Stephen King (Bag of Bones)

…power often grew from others deciding that you already had power, and an appearance of wealth could give that.
- Robert Jordan (New Spring)

A man’s work is the sweetest thing he owns.
- William W West (Printer’s Measure, Act III)

In the face of danger 'People don't always think or behave the way you might believe they would. - Robert Jordan (The Eye of the World)

...anyone who enables another to become powerful, brings about his own ruin.
- Niccolo Machiavelli (The Prince)

…it is desirable to be both loved and feared; but it is difficult to achieve both and, if one of them has to be lacking, it is much safer to be feared than loved.
- Niccolo Machiavelli (The Prince)

Love didn’t grow very well in a place where there was only fear…
- Stephen King (The Stand)

I guess all it takes to be happy in anything is knowin’ how to walk with your lot, whatever it is, in life.
- Claude Brown (Manchild in the Promised Land)

...'wish' and 'want' trip the feet, but 'is' makes the path smoother.
- Robert Jordan (The Fires of Heaven)

Without these two balances ('on the one hand' and 'on the other hand'), we cannot think.
- Gilbert Highet (Man's Unconquerable Mind)

To make nine important decisions a day, even if only five of them turn out right, was far better than making no decisions at all.
- Peter C Newman (The Canadian Establishment: Voume One)

…no matter how often the politicians may proclaim that Canada's economic system spreads abundance among the many, in reality, it creates wealth for the few.
- Peter C Newman (The Canadian Establishment: Volume One)

...exertion should always be in proportion to what is required.
- Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice)

...in every stratum of society, from the mansion to the gutter, the genuinely innocent were a distinct minority.
- Dean Koontz (Dragon Tears)

Wherever an advance takes place, ultimately all humanity is helped.
- Isaac Asimov (Nemesis)

Character is the real test of manhood. Live within your income, no matter how small it may be. Permanent wealth is maintained and preserved by vigilance and prudence and not by speculation.
- John H R Molson

A Laugh Amongst Co-Workers

This morning a couple co-workers from another section came to my office. Ordinarily this would be nothing to write home about, or at least nothing write about period, but today's situation was different. One of the two people was 'The Mumbler' and she was mumbling away to this second person, I'll call Gary, who in turn responded with non commital uh huh's in all the right places (if there are any right places to acknowledge something when The Mumbler is talking). These uh-huh's sounded void of feeling as if he was just mecahnically responding to make the appearance of listening. All those who have ever had a run in with The Mumbler know this all too well.

When I saw the situation unfold, I burst out laughing. I laughed because every now and then I am in the same sitation with The Mumbler and knew that Gary wasn't really listening to what The Mumbler was mumbling about. Gary did his best to hold his laughter (he knew exactly why I was laughing) but on his exit from my office he cracked and started to laugh. All the while The Mumbler continued to mumble.

A Cold Munday Morning

I realized today why my postings have been really rare: I don't think to write about basic events like this one below.

There I was, lying in bed enjoying a nice dream about something, totally oblivious to the alarm clock blaring a tune beside me. Getting up out of my nice warm bed into the cold world was the furthest thing from my mind. Finally, after several minutes the music invaded my dream and awoke me from my slumber. 5:42 it said. I hit snooze and went back to la-la land. Exactly nine minutes later, not ten minutes, not eight minutes, not even nine minutes and two seconds, nope, exactly nine minutes later my clock radio came to life again and again I hit the trusty snooze button and went back to sleep.

The third time the radio buzzed to life I looked at the clock, 6:00, hit the snooze but did not go back to sleep. Instead of drifting back to sleep I laid in bed trying to figure out if I could go back to sleep for another nine minutes (or whatever remained of the nine minutes) or if I had to get the day going. My bladder ended up deciding that one for me so I turned off the alarm and hit the washroom. While emptying my bladder I realized I could have stayed in bed for one more round.

That lead to tough decision number two, should I jump in the shower or sneak back into the warmth of my bed for another few minutes. The seconds of thought grew into minutes as I remained a statue in the washroom. 'If I go back I would have to reset my alarm...but the bed is nice and warm...the car likely needs some warming up before heading to the station...but the bed is nice and warm...the water in the shower can be real warm too...I can't sleep in the shower.' Finally, I just jumped into the shower and got the day going.

Over four hours after those fateful decisions I still want to go back to that nice warm bed. What happened to the weekend anyhow????

The Difference a Little Snow Makes

About a week ago or so as I was drowning out the chatter in car 2404 on the westbound train to Union, a Christmas song took its turn on my iPod. Since it was a great song by the TSO (that’s the Trans-Siberian Orchestra not the Toronto Symphony Orchestra) I decided to give it a go but after a few short bars the song was skipped. The weather was a balmy 8C that morning and the sun was shining.

Fast forward to this morning. A cold, dark, dreary morning that didn’t start getting light until I was halfway to work, a light that was enhanced by the bright white snow covering the ground. Another great Christmas song from the Trans-Siberian Orchestra played on my iPod and this time it got a full listen even though it was inferior to the song I skipped only a short time ago.

I could say that my change in attitude came from the fact that Christmas is steadily getting closer; or maybe because my sister keeps talking about finishing her Christmas shopping; or maybe even because of the really bad Christmas commercials that have invaded my cathode ray tube (maybe Santa can fix my lack of an LCD). I could use any of those reasons but it would be a lie. The real reason for my attitude change is the white gold that fell through the night and the cold temperatures that helped it get here. I just wish I could be listening to that music drinking a hot chocolate whilst sitting in front of a fire…

October 2008 Quotes

Yeah, with all of these men linin' up to get neutered
It's hip now to be feminized
But I don't highlight my hair, I've still got a pair
Yeah honey, I'm still a guy
- Brad Paisley (I'm Still A Guy)

The more women there are about, the softer a wise man steps.
- Robert Jordan (The Fires of Heaven)

Power went with standing high, but so did blame for the failures of those beneath you.
- Robert Jordan (The Fires of Heaven)

Sometimes…we must do things we would rather not.
- Robert Jordan (Crossroads of Twilight)

…he was way past foolishness and dwelling in the land of idiocy.
- Stephen King (Wizard and Glass)

The will of the people…practically means the will of the most numerous or the most active part of the people
- John Stuart Mill (On Liberty)

In politics it is almost a triviality to say that public opinion now rules the world. The only power deserving the name is that of masses, and of governments while they make themselves the organ of the tendencies and instincts of masses…And what is still a greater novelty, the mass do not now take their opinions from dignitaries in Church or State, from ostensible leaders, or from books. Their thinking is done for them by men much like themselves, addressing them or speaking in their name, on the spur of the moment, through the newspapers.
- John Stuart Mill (On Liberty)

Virtually every politician gains support by compromise. He alters his views to win the support of as many different people and groups as he can.
- Robert A. Liston (Politics: From Precinct to Presidency)

…the ultimate power of government must of necessity reside in the people.
- James Wilson

…the two [political] parties were like two bottles. Each bore a label denoting the kind of liqour it contained, but each was empty.
- Richard Hofstadter (The American Political Tradition)

The business of government is to organize the common interest against the sepcial interests.
- Woodrow Wilson

No Canadian, it has been said, is more inconsistent than he who follows one party consistently.
-J. Murray Beck (Pendulum of Power: Canada's Federal Elections)

The Canadian Forum…doubted if "a party whose heart is outside of Canada [could] ever become very interested in Canadian reconstruction…"
- J. Murray Beck (Pendulum of Power: Canada's Federal Elections)

Man is never less entitled to be called Homo Sapiens than when he is engaged in performing his first duty of citizenship
- John W. Dafoe

Apes were invented because politicians were needed.
- Isaac Asimov (Fantastic Voyage II: Destination Brain)

…people find it far easier to forgive others for being wrong than being right.
- J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince)

The trouble with him is he's so used to knowing, he sometimes forgets that others occasionally don't know.
- Isaac Asimov (Prelude to Foundation)

The times choose when children must grow up…
-Robert Jordan (Crossroads of Twilight)

Eloquence, when at its highest pitch, leaves little room for reason or reflection…
- David Hume (An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding)

So great has been the fear of the power of the writer through history that books have been burned in the belief that the putting to flame of the printed word also destroyed the spirit which lived in the word.
- Kay Boyle (On Writing By Writers)

Some observers…are convinced that the pursuit of money and temporary pleasure is killing all other powers of the spirit and corrupting society.
- Gilbert Highet (Man's Unconquerable Mind)

That was the trouble with talking. Sometimes, you said more than you wanted.
- Robert Jordan (Crossroads of Twilight)

And is there any pleasure you can name that is greater and keener than sexual pleasure?
No; nor any that is more like frenzy.
- Francis MacDonald Cornford (The Republic of Plato)

Thus I cannot conclude anything from this except that my nature is not entirely and universally cognizant of all things. And at this there is no reason to be surprised, since man, being of a finite nature, is also restricted to a knowledge of a limited perfection.
- Rene Descartes (Meditations on First Philosophy)

I've seen many people with status, but I'm still looking for a happy one.
- Isaac Asimov (Prelude to Foundation)

…men well paid often failed to stay bought.
- Bruce Hutchison (Mr. Prime Minister 1867-1964)

A pretty woman, still quite young, does somehow distract a man's mind from his troubles more effectively than most things would.
- Isaac Asimov (Fantastic Voyage II: Destination Brain)

Not bubbling fountains to the thirsty swain,
Not balmy sleep to laborers faint with pain,
Not showers to larks, nor sunshine to the bee,
Are half so charming as thy sight to me.
- Alexander Pope (Autumn)

So dies her love, and so my hopes decay.
- Alexander Pope (Autumn)

Where’d That Come From???

As my journey to work began this morning I noticed something was different…besides the thick frost on my windows that is. The City has finally painted lines on a road that they paved about a year ago. The paving was completed so long ago I thought they had decided to forgo the line painting. It’s not like anyone really abides by them anyhow. I imagine it was all in the name of saving money so I guess I shouldn’t be complaining. I just found it odd that this was done so long after the paving.

Get A Little Closer

I’m the type of person who values personal space. Being tall and, to put it mildly, slightly overweight, I take up a lot of space period. It is obvious to anyone who happens to glance my way. The size of my presence is likely even obvious from their peripheries too but lets not give too many people that kind of credit. Now that the stage is set with minimal sentences and all but this one not being a long, drawn out, run-on sentence, I will get to the story.

The morning of yesterday was cold, the hint of snow in the air but as of the start of this story, no flakes had fallen in the ‘Shwa, at least none that I knew of. I had found my way onto the train somehow and took a seat that I frequently occupy (I will not say my usual seat because I am in denial that I have a usual seat on the train) for the morning commute into the big city. Things were going as uneventful as ever, which is the way we like it, when I heard the end door swing open.

With my music already playing its sweet melodies in my ears and my nose in my book, I caught only a glimpse of the person, noticed that he was a fair size and dismissed him as I thought he would walk right on by. I was wrong. Such a small decision as to what seat would be best seemed too tough for this man on this morning. He twitched as if he was going to continue walking then hesitated. Next he looked as if he was going to sit in the foursome across the way from me but he balked there too. That was when I knew what he had decided, maybe even before he did.

You guessed it, he sat right beside me. Why else would I be writing this? Despite the car having more vacant seats then the Cable Box, once know as Skydome, during any Blue Jays game, this man, all six foot something and two hundred or so pounds of him, ignored the many other empty seats and sat right beside me. He seemed to keep his distance when he first sat down but just as I was thinking he was going to give me some space, he shifted closer to me; so close that I though he wanted to be my conjoined twin, connected at the shoulder. It just got worse from there but my arm is starting to remind me of the encounter so I must stop typing now.

Okay it wasn’t that bad but I did receive numerous elbows as he struggled to take his coat off. Why didn’t he take his coat off while he was standing up? you ask. As Kid Rock would say, only God knows why.

Welcome to Zombieville

As I sit at my jail cell (a.k.a. cubicle) looking out at the minions, I notice a slight difference to them all today. Something is not quite right with them; something about the look of their eyes. Overnight their eyes have become almost lost in puffy flesh swelling up from just below and the once bright white appearance of their conjunctivas now give off a grayish hue and are streaked with red giving them all the look of zombies from science fiction movies. The really cheesy b-movies that can be seen late nights, or rather very early mornings, on Space channel, around the time soft porn is available for viewing on City or the italian station TLN. To complete the picture, their eyes are also glazed over, void of any real feeling as if the past four days have successfully sucked the soul out of them and left them futilely drifting in this cold cruel world.

Or maybe it is just the sign of a Friday before a long weekend. One that is expected to give us one last reminder of summer before the cold, windy days of fall take full control, forcing the masses into hiding.

Forgot Something

With all this construction going on in Toronto, there is a great opportunity for the builders to invigorate the skyline with interesting and fun architecture but what they do instead is create tall columns of glass. That’s it. No odd angles or any other ingenious design aspect that makes one take notice. Just boring old glass. At least it is better than columns of ugly cement.

Irritants

It's election time in Canada again and that means campaing time! Time for the various party leaders to promise us the world in hopes that they be elected into office where they will get post election amnesia and forget the promises they made. Time for the leaders to call each other names and point out their parties faults and past mistakes as if their own party is innocent of all evils. Pictures of kids in a sandbox comes to mind....

And then there are those people who like to continually complain of the high gas prices. I bet they are the same people who spend $80+ per bottle of toilet water and then bathe in the stuff so rather than enticing others the chemicals attack the senses of those unfortunate enough to pass them in the hall or on the street. Did I forget to mention being stuck on a train with them too. That is even worse because there are no real alternatives. I guess changing seats is an option, if one could find one that isn't close to one of these chemical lovers. Speaking of change...

The platform numbers at Union Station changed over the weekend. There have been notices posted everywhere, including GO Transit's website, for the past few weeks so people knew the change was going to happen and gave the appearance of someone caring. Instead of them providing the new mapping (i.e. platofrm 1 will become platform x) they get to stand back and watch the confused faces of the commuters while they try to figure things out. It shouldn't be difficult since most trains will be leaving from the same track but they could have made things easier by not keeping the new numbering system a secret.

While I am on the subject of making things better, changes are greatly needed in the world of sports broadcasting. The use of ex-player/current player analysts needs to stop. In most cases there is no value added and in some cases (Pat Tabler, Darrin Fletcher, Rance Mullincks) it actually hurts the whole game experience. This past weekend as one of the MLB divisional series entered Game 3 with the one team down 0-2, an analyst was asked what the trailing team needed to do to win. Is that not obvious! Score more runs then the other team. Have everyone playing like they deserve to be in the postseason, perhaps. We don't need some slightly above average ball player from a team long out of the playoffs to tell us that.

September 2008 Quotes

…it is appalling to reflect upon the billions of hours and the masses of material which are utterly wasted every single day all over the world, by being thrown away on trashy amusements, none of them providing more than a single day's excitement, most of them offereing much less, and all of them based on the idea of Having a Good Time, which really means having a momentary impulse and satisfying it. We must be related to the monkeys, because so few of us seem to realize that pleasure is not the same as happiness.
- Gilbert Highet (Man's Unconquerable Mind)

As we go down life's lonesome highway
Seems the hardest thing to do is to find a friend or two
A helping hand - some one who understands
That when you feel you've lost your way
You've got some one there to say Ill show you
- Lionel Richie (Say You, Say Me)

...to the well-organised mind, death is but the next great adventure.
-J.K Rowling (Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone)

It is not by the consolidation, or concentration of powers, but by their distribution that good government is effected.
- Thomas Jefferson

...all achievement in life requires the overcoming of fear.
- Isaac Asimov (Fantastic Voyage II: Destination Brain)

…power will always end up with the sort of people who crave it…
- Orson Scott Card (Ender's Game)

People are people and it is not wise to overtempt even the best of them.
- Isaac Asimov (Fantastic Voyage II: Destination Brain)

Beware of all, but most beware of Man!
- Alexander Pope (The Rape of the Lock, Canto I)

…past glories are poor feeding.
- Isaac Asimov (Foundation)

When a government begins to die…mistakes are about all that it can make.
- Bruce Hutchison (Mr. Prime Minister 1867-1964)

Since when is the evidence of our senses any match for the clear light of rigid reason?
- Isaac Asimov (I, Robot)

…being…rather cleverer than most men, my mistakes tend to be correspondingly huger.
- J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince)

I think that’s what people most almost always do with the stuff they can’t make out – just forget it. Doesn’t do a person much good to remember stuff that doesn’t make any sense.
- Stephen King (The Green Mile)

…for the sake of unity we cannot be neutral in Canada.
- Ernest Lapointe

Not always Actions show the man: we find
Who does a kindness, is not therefore kind;
- Alexander Pope (Moral Essays, Epistle I)

And I, too, am nothing but a silly old ass
- Robin Brockman (The Message)

People are the most interesting things in the world. They are also the scariest.
- Dean Koontz (Dragon Tears)

It may be possible for human beings to learn good habits under pressure, but relieve the pressure and the bad habits are back at once.
- Isaac Asimov (Nemesis)

...when one had an opportunity to choose between power and honour, honour was more important.
- Karen Molson (The Molson's: Their Lives & Times 1780-2000)

If trouble were as easy to get out of-as into-life would be one sweet song.
- Isaac Asimov (Fantastic Voyage II: Destination Brain)

…luck is an unwelcome intrusion into the illusion of an ordered universe…
- Leonard Koppett (The Thinking Fan's Guide to Baseball)

The truth…It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution.
- J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone)

The most important things are the hardest things to say. They are the things you get ashamed of, because words diminish them – words shrink things that seemed limitless when they were in your head to no more than living size when they’re brought out. But it’s more than that isn’t it? The most important things lie too close to wherever your secret heart is buried, like landmarks to a treasure your enemies would love to steal away. And you may make revelations that cost you dearly only to have people look at you in a funny way, not understanding what you’ve said at all, or why you thought it was so important that you almost cried when you were saying it. That’s the worst, I think. When the secret stays locked within not for want of a teller but for want of an understanding ear.
- Stephen King (The Body)

Some men…choose to seek greatness, while others are forced to it. It is always better to choose then to be forced. A man who's forced is never completely his own master. He must dance on the strings of those who forced him.
- Robert Jordan (The Great Hunt)

Boredom Reaches Peak

At least I am hoping my boredom has reached it's peak or I am going to end up in a looney bin very soon.

Yesterday, after months of doing barely anything at work, I was given something to do by a coworker. Most people would not accept work from a coworker but given my high level of boredom I accepted and accepted gladly. The work was nothing more than filing papers but my excitement at actually having some work to do made it seem like I had just won the lottery.

How sad is that?!?!

The Long Trek Home

The road home from the big apple was rather serene until we arrived back on Canadian soil. As we traveled through New Jersey the setting sun helped create a reflective backdrop to us as we all were lost in memory of the various highlights of the weekend. As our thoughts turned to the tasty foot long hotdog smothered with cheese and kraut we all had at Shea (the best ballpark dog I’ve ever had; so good in fact I had two) our stomach’s broke the calm by reminding us all that the last bit of nourishment we ate that day was that tasty hotdog at the game.

After finding our intended place for dining, Perkins, and filling our gullets we continued our drive through Pennsylvania in darkness. At least it was late enough for the evening sports to be on and we landed on WGN radio and the Cubs game. The innings past by in the game and each mile got us closer to New York State and more importantly, Carlos Zambrano inched closer to the Cubs first no hitter in 36 years. As the announcers found every possible way of letting us know the predicament without actually saying “no hitter” our attention to the game intensified and peaked in the ninth when the rare feat was accomplished.

That was the peak of our enjoyment on the road too (except for the brief stop at duty free when we got to buy alcohol for cheap). Not too long after the game ended we started looking for a place to sleep. As the wind picked up outside we were growing restless in the car. Relying on a GPS unit we took a cutoff in hopes of finding a hotel/motel but instead of finding one we spent half an hour driving in circles before getting back on the interstate. As an aside: all trip long we had a discussion going about old school maps and the new fangled GPS units. I defended the use of maps while my traveling mates held the GPS unit in high regard. In this instance neither helped.

We finally found shelter not long before the remnants of Ike unleashed in the area. The next day we saw the outcome of the storm’s wrath as we dodged tree limbs on the interstate. After a short stop at the duty free, we were finally back in Canada but our troubles were far from over. Unbeknownst to us, somewhere along the way one of our tires picked up an unwanted passenger that caused what began as a slow leak and progressed to a more pronounced leak. We made several stops to add air to the tire before arriving in my driveway and called CAA. The trip, which was great until this side of the border, was over for me. Half an hour or so later, will full bellies, my dad and sister were on their own home stretch.

A Tale of Two Stadiums

We are up to the main reason for my recent trip to New York City, visiting the two ballparks that will be replaced for the 2009 season. Apparently, New York is really where the money is these days since both the storied Yankee Stadium and the ugly sister called Shea are both being taken out of commission at the end of this baseball season.

Although both stadiums have witnessed some ‘amazing’ baseball (even if the one more so than the other) there is definitely no telling which one is in the hearts of the city folk. That is evident by the name assigned to each of the new stadiums; Yankee Stadium and Citi Field. Yankee Stadium can be seen as being modernized (i.e. more comfortable seating and more expensive luxury suites) since the name remains the same while Shea is flat out being replaced (and it is obvious why it’s needed). The Yankees fans seem to be saddened by the replacement of the House That Ruth Built and its 85 years of mostly fond memories even though the new park is supposedly going to a replica of the old but over in Queens it’s a different story. Even with the memory of the Miracle Mets of 1969 and the infamous Bill Buckner blunder in game 6 of the 1986 World Series, most Mets fans are more than happy to be getting a new field. The replacement of Shea does not seem to be talked about outside of Queens whereas the closing of Yankee Stadium is talked about everywhere (at least everywhere in North America).

Despite the dilapidated look of Shea and the narrow stairs, walkways and concourse of Yankee Stadium, both ballparks are still fun to watch games at. A lot of that enjoyment likely has to do with the relaxed and fun atmosphere created by the stadium’s personnel rather than the actual buildings. At Yankee Stadium one of New York’s finest seemed to be right at home in the stands. He was seen sending text messages, eating peanuts, chatting with fans and posing for pictures (perhaps even taking some for others as well). At Shea, we had an usher that was authentically friendly and seemed like he would like nothing better than to grab a seat beside us and talk about the history of the Mets or the stadium or anything else we wanted to talk about.

In the end, I’m glad I went to Yankee Stadium before they sell off every urinal and toilet seat to help recover the costs of constructing the new stadium but I prefer comfort over nostalgia at sporting events and think a new stadium is needed. Once the Yankees start winning in the new building the old stadium will be locked into the history books. As for Shea, I feel for the Mets fans that had to sit in that building the past several years when it was way past decent. The new stadium should give more life to the fans and hopefully the team as they continue on another September fall from grace. Cherish the memories of old but enjoy all the comforts afforded by the modern day.

From Tourists to Subway Pros

While in New York City, we did not do much of the normal stuff, you know check out the view from the top of the Empire State building, shop, or check out the club or bar scene but we did find our way to Times Square. We stayed out in Queens, a few blocks from the Mets home, so we had to rely on the subway to get to Manhattan and our main destination, Yankee Stadium.

Getting to Manhattan and Times Square was not difficult for us at all. We got on the 7 train at the beginning and got off at the end in the middle of Times Square. Since our time was short there, we wandered aimlessly along the streets, stopping for Starbucks and the Yankees clubhouse before jumping back on the subway to head to the Bronx. We made the switch at Grand Central Station to the northbound train into the Bronx a lot more complicated than it had to be but we ended up at Yankee Stadium anyhow.

We returned to Times Square for dinner and had no difficulty on the subway this time. We did get off at Grand Central Station and walk to Times Square so we missed the switch but we would have had no trouble the second time. Getting back to Queens and our hotel left us feeling like pros on the subway as we had no difficulty at all. To us, it seemed like we started our day as tourists but ended the day as seasoned pros on the subway.

Tommy Boy Moment En Route to the Big Apple

One week ago today I was in a car in Pennsylvania heading south to New York City. Right now I am so wishing I could go back in time…or maybe even forward in time so I would not be at work anymore. Anyhow, despite the long drive it was a fun trip. We went to both MLB stadiums and wandered the streets of Manhattan for a short time all while mastering the expansive subway system. The fun was not limited to our adventures in the big city; it started somewhere near the Pocono’s and had me looking as stupid as David Spade’s character in Tommy Boy at the gas station (the scene where David’s character is looking for a town using the wrong map).

We got the Triptych from CAA to guide us to New York. It is useful as it shows construction zones and the location of food, gas, lodgings and points of interest. We also had the New York Tour Book that gives more information on the points of interest, lodgings, etc. As my dad fiddled around with his new GPS unit, I followed along with the old school maps and my triptych. I was checking out the points of interest to see if any of them interested us. As we neared the Pocono area I noticed a point of interest near Mount Pocono and began searching the tour book for what the point of interest was but I could not locate the town in the Tour Book. Five minutes of searching, likely cursing under my breath all the while, I finally realized something…I would never find Mount Pocono in the Tour Book I had. Mount Pocono happens to be in Pennsylvania not New York, the state for which the Tour Book contained information.

It turned out I needed a new Tour Book not a new map as the gas attendant so bluntly put it in Tommy Boy. And that was my first thought after I realized the mistake I made and started laughing in the back seat. My sister got just as big a laugh out of that occurrence as I did when I told her the reason of my seemingly unprompted laughter.

Indecision Results in Weird Combination

It has been a while since I have posted something with substance so I thought I’d reach down into my memory to come up with something. Well, actually, this memory came back to me last night while I was thinking of something to feed my son and it gave me a chuckle so I thought I’d share it with you all. Oh yeah, it really doesn’t have much substance either but it is better than a list of quotes.

After several rounds of opening the fridge and cupboards I could find nothing to feed my son. After checking out some mindless show on tv, I finally decided to feed him some cheese. But cheese is not a stand alone meal so what could I give him to go with the cheese? There is a loaf of bread on the counter…and some peanut butter in the cupboard. Peanut butter does not really go well with cheese though does it?

…One night, back in my first year of university, I woke up in the middle of the night and had a craving for cheese, cheddar cheese. But while I tossed and turned in bed trying to convince myself I didn’t want cheese, I started craving peanut butter as well. I finally decided I should fill my cravings but I couldn’t settle on which craving to settle because surely I couldn’t have both. Or could I?

In my childhood, I concocted numerous original drinks by mixing whatever liquids were in the fridge together (i.e. orange juice and milk) so why not take that to another level. Instead of staying up pondering this rather insignificant dilemma, I decided to make a peanut butter and cheese sandwich. Let’s just say it was an interesting combination. Although it was far from awful, I have not combined those two ingredients since that first time.

August 2008 Quotes

You get what you pay for
But I just had no intention of living this way
- Counting Crows (Raining in Baltimore)

...fire was evil stuff that delighted in escaping the hands which created it.
- Stephen King (The Waste Lands)

Deeds may do the job where words fail.
- Isaac Asimov (Foundation's Edge)

There must be a difference in what you saw...depending on wether you sought adventure or had it forced on you.
- Robert Jordan (The Eye of the World)

Women cost a man money, they fought like alley cats, and they caused trouble. Any and all trouble a man had could be laid to women, one way or another.
- Robert Jordan (The Fires of Heaven)

A woman's eyes cut deeper than a knife…
- Robert Jordan (Lord of Chaos)

...it would be desirable to be considered generous; nevertheless, if generosity is practiced in such a way that you will be considered generous, it will harm you.
- Niccolo Machiavelli (The Prince)

Life was such a wheel that no man could stand upon it for long. And it always, at the end, came round to the same place again.
- Stephen King (The Stand)

Some wars could not be won, but they still must be fought.
- Robert Jordan (New Spring)

And prudence in counsel is clearly a form of knowledge; good counsel cannot be due to ignorance and stupidity.
- Francis MacDonald Cornford (The Republic of Plato)

I'm just waiting for that cold black soul of mine
To come alive
- The Refreshments (Nada)

...fear remains the greatest enemy of peace.
- D.C. Masters (A Short History of Canada)

Let others know you possessed a secret, and some would work to learn it; that was a fact of nature.
- Robert Jordan (New Spring)

Humor is almost always anger with its makeup on...
- Stephen King (Bag of Bones)

I have always felt that when punishment is done, the fault that caused it should be erased.
- Robert Jordan (The Dragon Reborn)

Few if any seemed to have grasped the Principle of Reality; new knowledge leads always to yet more awesome mysteries.
- Stephen King (The Gunslinger)

It's up to men to build things...It's up to God to blow them down.
- Stephen King (The Drawing of the Three)

As long as men live upon this planet, they will, they must continue to think; and they will think in spite of the worst tyrannies and cruelties that they can devise for one another.
- Gilbert Highet (Man's Unconquerable Mind)

We all love to instruct, though we can teach only what is not worth knowing.
- Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice)

What possible use could be made of an experience if one allowed it to invoke only rage?
- Whitley Strieber (Transformation: The Breakthrough)

When you’re in bed with someone you love, particularly for the first time, five o’clock seems almost holy.
- Stephen King (Bag of Bones)

Men listened closer to calm tones than to the loudest shouts, so long as firmness and certainty accompanied the calm.
- Robert Jordan (New Spring)

And in that moment I realized that I would be a fool to dissipate my energies and that success in anything called for the utmost concentration in that field.
- Paul Gallico (One Writer’s Life)

The best way toward greatness is to mix with the great.
- Gilbert Highet (Man's Unconquerable Mind)

What's Next?

Some days I have it, like this one, and some days I don’t. Today is one of those days I don’t. Things were going fairly well until I got off the train. As I was walking beside the train I stumbled a bit too far to one side and a small silver piece of metal attached to the side of the train reached out and attacked me out of nowhere with surprising quickness. I didn’t even see it coming. With a little less quickness, okay, with a quickness reminiscent of the speed of a turtle, I reacted and saved my arm from being mutilated. Unfortunately, my shirt was not so lucky. Although my arm was left with only a tiny red mark where skin was scraped off, my shirt has a gaping hole in the sleeve. Its frayed ends dangling from the wound reaching towards the warm safe piece of fabric it should be connected to.

One would think the shirt mutilation was bad enough for one day, and I would tend to agree, but my bad luck (or is it bad karma?) was far from over. An innocent trip to the washroom turned into a nightmare for my pants as the button on the waist was severed from the pants. I have never been more appreciative of a belt than I am right now as it is the only thing ensuring my pants stay together, saving me from embarrassment and giving a free show.

An ordinary day has now turned into one filled with nervous tension as I await the next small tragedy to befall me.

July 2008 Quotes

Oh Canada, standing tall together,
We'll raise our hands and hail our flag
The maple leaf forever.
- Stompin' Tom Connors (Canada Day, Up Canada Way)

Resignation to inevitable evils is the duty of us all... - Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice)

Don't ask me where I'm going, cause I don't care
I want a ticket that'll take me anywhere but here
- Sammy Kershaw (Anywhere But Here)

And it's been so long since I have felt fine
That's the reason
That I gotta get out of here
I'm so alone
Don't you know that I gotta get out of here
- Jim Croce (New York's Not My Home)

I'm sorry if I ruined your day
I really hope that you understand
I'm a million miles away
Looking for a place to land
- Great Big Sea (Something To It)

Can you help me remember how to smile
Make it somehow all seem worthwhile
How on earth did I get so jaded
Life's mystery seems so faded
- Soul Asylum (Runaway Train)

Yes; thank my stars! as early as I knew
This Town, I had the sense to hate it too:
- Alexander Pope (The Satires of Dr. John Donne, Satire II)

…nobody beat the system or won the game, and only suckers ever thought they were ahead. - Stephen King (Salems Lot)

First things first; take care of what can be done now before worrying too long over what might never be. - Robert Jordan (Lord of Chaos)

The lessons which are remembered the longest…are always the ones that are self-taught. - Stephen King (The Waste Lands)

God doesn't always dish it in your face…Most times, but not always. - Stephen King (The Drawing of the Three)

Paltry irritations sometimes had a way of festering into lifelong antagonisms. - Robert Jordan (New Spring)

'Scuse me but I don't remember
Where were you when I needed you most?
- Def Leppard (Deliver Me)

But if you're gonna make a difference,
If you're gonna leave your mark.
You can't follow like a bunch of sheep
You got to listen to your heart
- Garth Brooks (Against the Grain)

A man with a good wife is the luckiest of God’s creatures, and one without must be among the most miserable… - Stephen King (The Green Mile)

…boredom is good. People with a high tolerance for boredom can get a bit of thinking done. - Stephen King (Bag of Bones)

Great golf seems always within the reach of the body and only rarely within the grasp of the mind. To play golf well, a golfer need only master himself, need only discipline his own brain. - Bob Cullen (Why Golf?)

If it happens, God lets it happen, and when we say “I don’t understand”, God replies “I don’t care”. - Stephen King (The Green Mile)

I know that it's time
for a cool change
- Little River Band (Cool Change)

So much of our life is spent on solving problems to avoid immediate pain or to bring immediate profit…that we forget how true and inexhaustible is the happiness of pure knowing. - Gilbert Highet (Man's Unconquerable Mind)

…I realized something is badly out of whack when there is such a dichotomy between a person’s waking and sleeping lives.
- Stephen King (Bag of Bones)

…if a woman did not want to hear something, she could ignore it till you yourself started to doubt you had spoken.
- Robert Jordan (Crossroads of Twilight)

It is individuality that we war against: we should think we had done wonders if we had made ourselves all alike; forgetting that the unlikeness of one person to another is generally the first thing which draws the attention of either to the imperfection of his own type, and the superiority of another, or the possibility, by combining the advantages of both, of producing something better than either.
- John Stuart Mill (On Liberty)

Yet it cannot be called virtue to kill one’s fellow citizens, to betray one’s friends, to be treacherous, merciless and irreligious; power may be gained by acting in such ways, but not glory.
- Niccolo Machiavelli (The Prince)

Only enemies speak the truth. Friends and lovers lie endlessly, caught in the web of duty.
- Stephen King (The Gunslinger)

When Is A Good TIme?

A couple months back I was talking to my mom and somehow our conversation touched on work. I told her I was going to quit (only being half serious at the time) and she told me that now was not a good time to quit. That got me pondering if there ever really was a good time to quit.

Now for one who has a plethora of skills, talents, papers hanging on the walls from various institutions of higher learning, and the ability to bullshit their way through an interview, I am sure anytime would be fine for them to quit, maybe not ideal but they would get on just fine. But for one who has very limited skills, only one paper from one of these higher learning institutions that is starting to brown on the edges, and the lack of bullshitting skills that will easily get them through an interview, I doubt there is ever really a good time to quit, especially when that said person is getting paid far too much to do nothing for seven hours a day all while losing any knowledge acquired at any learning institution (including elementary school). Finding a job to maintain their standard of life would be almost impossible.

There is never going to be a perfect time for anything in life, let alone quitting a job, but the first group of people should have little trouble finding employment elsewhere in the event they are unhappy at their current employment no matter how poorly the economy is doing. The only hindrance will be the qualities of the new employment these people are looking for (an extra week vacation or a parking spot close to the doors or a corner office or just an office with a view or maybe even the ability to work from home on occasion). The second group of people, on the other hand, will always struggle to find employment no matter how well the economy is doing, with perhaps the exception of low paying and low experience type jobs (working the fryers at McDonald's for instance).

While people in the first group sometimes have great jobs fall into their laps, so to speak, (via headhunters) the people in the second group will never have jobs come to them. Instead these people need to work endlessly to find new employment that will maintain their standard of living or at least one acceptable to them. They need to constantly be aware of their current sitaution so they can get out before they become stuck at a dead end job that would make them even less appealing to other employers. The people in this group who find themselves unsatified with limited opportunities have to decide: remain unhappy at their current job and keep their standard of living or leave the place of dread and lose some comforts of life in the hopes that they will find another job that will be, at the very least, tolerable.

Unfortunately for me, I fall into the second group. I am short on skills, lack knowledge needed to advance, am terrible in formal interviews and selling myself, am miserable and bored at my current job, and may have stayed at my current job too long to be appealing to others. It appears that I have come to my fork in the road: should I stay or should I go? Some would stay and some have left to become much happier than those that stayed. The main obstacle in my way is my financial obligations. Do I remain unhappy and overpaid or do I trade that financial security for happiness and perhaps sanity? For me the answer is obvious.....

Ask and You Shall Not Receive

While strolling to the washroom I hear this indecipherable voice behind me. After a prolonged moment of contemplation, I decided to find out who was behind me and turned to see my coworker John coming towards me and I slow down (which was hard because I was walking so slow I’d lose a race with a snail) to make it easier for him to catch up to me.

“Busy, busy,” John commented. Or was it a question?

Unsure if it was a comment or a question I remained silent.

John tried again, “are you busy?”

“Not at all,” I replied.

John continued the conversation with “I’m crazy busy.”

“Let me know if you need any help.”

“I should be okay,” John concluded before I turned towards the washroom.

It is no wonder why I am so freakin’ bored at work when I flat out ask for stuff and, despite everyone else being “crazy busy”, I receive nothing. There is only so much message board idiocy one can dull their senses with before they go insane. Ah well, back to the never ending debate on whether field lacrosse or box lacrosse is the “real” lacrosse. Maybe it’s time to switch sports and find out how many Jays fans think Hallady got shafted at the All-Star game lat night by only pitching one inning. Better yet, time for food and a 4 hour nap......

Say It Ain't So

The brief two days of freedom have come to a quick end and the beginning of another five long and agonizing days of the mundane are upon us. I so need a vacation.

Close Enough

I'm outta here! I will just have to walk slower en route to the train.

Only 10 Minutes Left...

After wasting away over seven working hours in a day, one would think wasting a mere ten minutes would be a simple task. Unfortunately, that ten minutes feels like a century when it is the day ten minutes of a workday, before a weekend. I thought today was going to be easier than most as I had a late afternoon meeting but the meeting did not last as long as I had hoped and I had to find ways to amuse myself for the last hour fo today. There is nothing as painful as staring blankly at a computer screen waiting for time to pass one by.

Now down to 6 minutes and it is not getting any easier...

AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

June 2008 Quotes

the Creator made women so men would not find life too easy. - Robert Jordan (Winter's Heart)

Panic is highly contagious, especially in situations when nothing is known and everything is in flux. - Stephen King (Wizard and Glass)

...we're all in our private traps--clamped in them. And none of us can ever get out. We--we scratch and claw, but only at the air--only at each other. And for all of it, we never budge an inch. - Psycho (1959)

Some said that turnabout was fair play, but she had never believed in fighting fair. Either you fought, or you did not, and it was never a game. Fairness was for people standing safely to one side, talking while others bled. - Robert Jordan (Crossroads of Twilight)

I guess that’s what this maturity thing is about, growing up and being able to face being what you are. - Claude Brown (Manchild in the Promised Land)

Patience is a virtue that must be learned, but we must all be ready for the change of an instant. - Robert Jordan (The Great Hunt)

Only fair treatment can make men friendly and of one mind. - Francis MacDonald Cornford (The Republic of Plato)

I have every reason to give Him thanks because, never having any obligation to me, He has nevertheless given me those few perfections that I have. - Rene Descartes (Meditations on First Philosophy)

From this point forth, we shall be leaving the firm foundation of fact and journeying together through the murky marshes of memory into thickets of wildest guesswork. - J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince)

If you go out alone you’re a hero. Take somebody else with you and you’re dogpiss. - Stephen King (The Body)

Lost within my plans for life,
It all seems so unreal.
I'm a man cut in half in this world,
Left in my misery.
- Pantera (Cemetary Gates)

And I was thinking to myself,
’this could be heaven or this could be hell’
- The Eagles (Hotel California)

That's the thing about women...If one says no, there's always another will say yes. - Robert Jordan (Winter's Heart)

Complex plans had many ways to fall apart… - Robert Jordan (Crossroads of Twilight)

Sometimes, pain is all that lets you know you're alive… - Robert Jordan (Crossroads of Twilight)

Change what you can if it needs changing, but learn to live with what you can't change. - Robert Jordan (New Spring)

…and that even when our life is harsh and inexplicable, we may still make it into a worthy and heroic destiny, provided we maintain the invincibility of the mind. - Gilbert Highet (Man's Unconquerable Mind)

But the heart must call for its rights, too, and a man or woman who doesn't listen is a fool. - Stephen King (Wolves of the Calla)

You needn't die happy when the day comes, but you must die satisfied, for you have lived your life from beginning to end… - Stephen King (The Dark Tower)

A man did what he could. What he had to. - Robert Jordan (Crossroads of Twilight)

Maybe it's better not to brood…Sometimes-especially when you know a thing's going to be hard-it's better just to get on your horse and ride. - Stephen King (Wizard and Glass)

Indifference and neglect often do much more damage than outright dislike… - J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix)

There's a moment in every man's life
When he must decide what is wrong and what's right

You could wait for your dreams to come true
But time has no mercy
Time won't stand still for you
- Bryan Adams (Into the Fire)

Whe'er you tread, the blushing flowers shall rise,
And all things flourish where you turn your eyes,
Oh! how I long with you to pass my days,
Invoke the Muses, and resound your praise!
- Alexander Pope (Summer)

We weep from our eyes, it’s all we can do, but on that evening I felt as if every pore of my body were weeping, every crack and cranny. - Stephen King (Bag of Bones)

There’s always a choice. That’s God’s way, always will be. Your will is still free. Do as you will. There’s no set of leg-irons on you. But…this is what God wants of you. - Stephen King (The Stand)

Duty was a mountain, death a feather… - Robert Jordan (New Spring)

Short Fuse Anyone?

Here’s one of those stories that should leave you shaking your head and shows you the true nature of the idiots that use public transit (I am not implying that everyone who uses public transit is an idiot, just to be clear on that).

Leaving the Oshawa GO station last night was horrendous. They are doing construction on the only street the station is accessible from and apparently the day had not ended for the work crews so the traffic was more reflective of the traffic on the DVP. It took several minutes longer to get out of the lot than normal much to the dismay of everyone (I was not impressed myself as I had an hour drive ahead and was tight for time as it was). For those who have not been to the Oshawa GO station (I envy you) it is on Bloor St and there is a short street on the east side of the station that mainly serves the lot. The street conveniently has four lanes, a right and left turn lane in each direction. I’m working on a diagram but I doubt I will get it done so just picture it in your head if you can.

The majority of cars that use the side street turn right onto the main road so the smooth flow of the left lane relies on courtesy of other drivers exiting the parking lot at the various exit points. Sometimes the left lane gets blocked and the cars have the option of going around the car. If the driver decides not to go around the offending car, they are usually still able to make their turn on the green light. Usually people are smart enough to realize this and wait patiently for their path to clear. Yesterday was not one of those days.

The car exiting the lot in front of me was unable to merge with the right lane traffic so it blocked the left lane where two cars were waiting. Once the light turned green I edged into the road, stopping well short of the blockage, and waited for the traffic to move. While waiting my eyes met with those of the driver of the first car in the left lane and she started shouting at me through her closed window. WTF! I was just sitting there waiting for traffic to move. I tried to illustrate that I didn’t have a clue what she was saying but that didn’t seem to work as she kept screaming. I tried to calm her down by using hand gestures one would use on a child when they get over excited but all that got me was the finger and a “fuck you”. I showed no indication of cutting in front of her in my attempt to merge into the right lane but after her assault on me I edged my car up some just to make her more irate. I think it worked.

On a side note: while waiting to enter the road a car coming from the main road practically stopped in front of me to pick up her wandering passenger. I really wonder what goes on in some people’s minds.

Anecdotal piece: This morning on the train I was zoning out while looking out the window of the train when we stopped at a station and some lady decides to sit in the four seat section I was sitting. The way she stuck her ass out it appeared she was going to sit in the seat across from me on the outside (I was on the inside) but instead of sitting down there she lead with her ass and wiggled her way into the seat directly opposite me. Now just picture that for a minute. A person sticks their ass out and, as if reaching for the cookie jar that mommy has cleverly put just out of reach, extends themselves backwards towards a distant chair all the while shuffling their feet inch by inch until finally reaching their destination. It was both the oddest thing I witnessed and perhaps the funniest.

Driving Lesson 1 - Correction

This is a follow-up to an earlier post about driving.

I have come to realize it was I who had it all wrong when it came to stopping at stop lights and stop signs. I had fallen victim to the government propaganda of a calm and orderly society where rules are meant to be followed. I now know that stopping at stop signs is optional, done only when traffic is approaching from any direction. Stopping at stop lights is a little more complicated. If one is turning right, they must first stop, or at least slow down before turning regardless of approaching traffic. If one actually comes to a complete stop they must only wait a preset amount of time (based on their specific patience level) before completing the turn.

I apologize to anyone who actually put my earlier post into practice. It was based on information that one can ignore once they get their full license. Checking mirrors before changing lanes, signaling, and driving in the right lane except to pass are also items that one can forget once they get their full license too.
(Can you tell I'm bored at work?)

(Picture from The Post Standard off syracuse.com website)

Where'd They Go?

I saw them here last week but now I can't find them anywhere. Where'd they go? Surely they didn't just get up and walk away. Oh wait a minute. Where did those tacky display boxes come from? What is behind them? I bet those nasty 'ole cigarettes are back there.

If you happened to stop into a corporate run convenience store in Ontario this past weekend, you might know what I am talking about. As of Saturday, the famous, or infamous, wall of cigarettes has been forced under cover as Ontario's new rules on tobacco came into effect preventing the open display of tobacco products. For those smaller stores that cannot afford the ugly and expensive display cases, they are forced to use alternate methods to erase the image of DuMaurier, Peter Jackson and Benson & Hedges, to name a few, from our minds. Some have had to resort to using cardboard to hide the legalized cancer sticks. Very inconspicuous!

Normally I wouldn't care about this type of silly legislation (if that is what it is) as I never really paid attention to the cigarette wall in the first place. I knew it was there and know in most cases it still is there. The curiosity these secret compartments will raise in children will only be intensified when the answers their parents give to their questions are not satisfactory enough to diminish the curiosity. And isn't curiosity one leading factor in children smoking? That's what lead me to lighting my first cigarette and choking back a few drags before figuring them out.

Okay so the above situation may not happen anymore than it already does; it may not happen any less though either but that is not why I'm writing. I recently went to a Macs convenience store to by a froster (and it was quite tasty too), at the time unaware of the implementation date of this display ban. (I had heard something about the ban previously but shook my head and forgot about it). After filling up my cup with the slushy goodness I proceeded to wander towards the front cash wondering if there was something else I needed. Chips, no; gummies, no; chocolate, maybe; mike and ikes, sure why not; beer, nope.

Wait a minute, did I see that right? Beer in a convenience store? When did that happen? I had to check that out again. Lucky for me it was right by the front of the store, in the middle of a candy aisle, in full view of the entrance. Had I not made a b-line straight to the froster machines at the back of the store (i.e. if I was a kid and was trying to decide on the best item(s) to rot my teeth with...and maybe even my gut) I would have seen the display of beer right away. The beer turned out to be dealcoholized beer but at a quick glance it looked like real beer.

At least the cigarettes were hidden.

May 2008 Quotes

A person don’t hardly feel right unless he’s looking forward, you ever notice that? - Stephen King (The Stand)

…a completely tame man was no use to himself or anyone else… - Robert Jordan (New Spring)

Teddy and Vern slowly became just two faces in the halls or in three-thirty detention. We nodded and said hi. That was all. It happens. Friends come in and out of your life like bus boys in a restaurant, did you ever notice that? But when I think of that dream, the corpses under the water pulling implacably at my legs, it seems right that it should be that way. Some people drown, that’s all. It’s not fair, but it happens. Some people drown. - Stephen King (The Body)

An ignorant woman who keeps her mouth shut will be thought wise… - Robert Jordan (A Crown of Swords)

A man who can't bear to share his habits is a man who needs to quit them. - Stephen King (The Dark Tower)

... greed in a good cause is still greed. - Stephen King (Wolves of the Calla)

It's not good for a man to be alone
But a women needs someone that she can count on
- Brooks & Dunn (When She's Gone, She's Gone)

Wildfire did not run through dry woods as fast as gossip ran through women. - Robert Jordan (Winter's Heart)

...in order to understand anything, you must impose an order on it so it becomes meaningful to you and so you can interact effectively with it. - William W. West (On Writing By Writers)

Some women don't ask for land, or gold. Just the man.
And the man who would ask her to accept so little would not be worthy of her.
- Robert Jordan (The Eye of the World)

…a man just could not do without a woman to take care of him and keep him out of trouble. - Robert Jordan (The Eye of the World)

Games have a way of turning serious sometimes. - Stephen King (The Stand)

God gives life and then takes it away when He wants. - Stephen King (The Stand)

…I was half-past sober, going on drunk. - Stephen King (Bag of Bones)

There is nothing that is so self-consuming as generosity: the more you practice it, the less you will be able to continue to practice it. You will either become poor and despised or your efforts to avoid poverty will make you rapacious and hated. - Niccolo Machiavelli (The Prince)

And when there was no choice, hesitation was ever a fault. - Stephen King (Wizard and Glass)

hope is like a piece of string when you're drowning; it just isn't enough to get you out by itself. - Robert Jordan (The Eye of the World)

The more who speak of a thing, the more will learn of it who should not. - Robert Jordan (Crossroads of Twilight)

The universe…offers a paradox too great for the finite mind to grasp. As the living brain cannot conceive of a nonliving brain-although it may think it can-the finite mind cannot grasp the infinite. - Stephen King (The Gunslinger)

There is no word for failure in the bright lexicon youth - Darryl Brock (If I Never Get Back)

I'm never alone
I'm alone all the time
- Bush (Glycerine)

...one human being can never know everything that is in another human being’s heart - Stephen King (Apt Pupil)

Always plan for the worst child; that way, all your surprises will be pleasant ones. - Robert Jordan (The Dragon Reborn)

Women lied to get a man into bed, and they lied worse once they had him there. - Robert Jordan (Winter's Heart)

For some who swear an oath, whatever is not forbidden is permitted, and whatever is not commanded can be ignored. - Robert Jordan (Crossroads of Twilight)

Get Over It!

Gas prices are increasing. It's a fact. Get over it. Why do the media outlets insist on shoving the high price of petrol down our throats? Even the dumbest of the dumb have to realize the gas prices are extremely high right now and chances are, they will continue to get higher and higher. We don't need a daily account of the price of the black gold or the same recycled bit of how analysts are still forecasting a long period of increased prices. No matter how much whining is done about this topic, the fact remains the price of gas is high. Why not complain about the price of bread? A loaf of enriched white used to cost me $0.79, now the price is more than triple that; gas has not even doubled in that same time frame (almost but not quite). Deal with it.

Today’s My Day!

No one has named an international day after me, nor have they named a national day after me, or even a municipal day but today is still my day. It all started this morning when two good looking people came to my desk, okay she was hovering just above the average mark and he could be described as being on the cute side of nerdy, but the appearance of the two of them signaled the beginning of my day.

Having a job where I don’t do any real work, i.e. work that adds any value to the company, I don’t get a lot of visitors so I was a little leery of the two at first. Once I opened up to them, they informed me I was getting an upgrade to my email. Let me tell you, it was like winning the lottery. I am one of only a few with this upgraded version, or so they told me. It sure did add some excitement to my otherwise dull morning. And the newer version is a lot softer on the eyes (the hard edges of the windows are now soft rounded edges and the colour is, well, let’s just say there is some colour now) and a lot more user friendly (i.e. idiot proof).

I was beginning to think the day couldn’t get any better when my dad told me that we will be getting a puck after game one of the Memorial Cup tonight. Getting giveaways at sporting events is always good. I bet you all are thinking this is too good to be true but there is more. Just a couple hours ago I learned that there is a big meeting at work and my bosses will be out of the office all afternoon, on a Friday of a long weekend.

Despite that amazing fact, there is still more and I think of this as the cherry on top of an ice cream sundae. I went for greek for lunch today and instead of getting a mere two olives on the salad I got three! That is almost unheard of. Every greek restaurant I’ve been to, which is only two so I guess my sample size is insufficient to yield accurate results, there have always only been two olives on my salad. Now that my friends is hitting the greek paydirt.

Life couldn’t get any better………

April 2008 Quotes

…humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things which are worst for them. - J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone)

And when a man talks from his heart, in his moment of truth, he speaks poetry. - Ray Bradbury (How to Keep and Feed a Muse)

But exclusion is itself a form of inclusion. - John Updike (A Sense of Shelter)

…men and women are motivated, more than anything else, to seek happiness.
Happiness is something we feel in the middle of the active, successful pursuit of something we want. - Bob Cullen (Why Golf?)

Our lives are like these [card towers] I build. Sometimes they fall down for a reason, sometimes they fall down for no reason at all. - Stephen King (The Drawing of the Three)

Your body is only clothing. Your flesh will wither, but you are your heart and mind, and they do not change except to grow stronger. - Robert Jordan (Winter's Heart)

His eyes widened, and for a moment he looked as if he and dumb had never even met, let alone got up together every morning and lain down together every night. - Stephen King (The Stand)

Knowledge is better than ignorance, even if that knowledge produces no further results. - Gilbert Highet (Man's Unconquerable Mind)

…in this Galaxy rationality does not always triumph. - Isaac Asimov (Prelude to Foundation)

…people live and die by nonsense. It's not what is so much as what people think is. - Issac Asimov (Forward the Foundation)

…all human action should aim at creating, maintaining, and increasing the greatest happiness of the greatest number of people. - John Stuart Mill (On Liberty)

Waking to the truth when it’s too late is a terrible thing. - Stephen King (Wizard and Glass)

Taking responsibility drained all the joy out of life and dried a man to dust. - Robert Jordan (Crossroads of Twilight)

…love is what moves the world, I’ve always thought…it is the only thing which allows men and women to stand in a world where gravity always seems to want to pull them down… - Stephen King (The Stand)

We are not intended only to diagnose and calculate, but also to wonder; to admire; to expect the unexpected. - Gilbert Highet (Man's Unconquerable Mind)

The place where you made your stand never mattered. Only that you were there…and still on your feet. - Stephen King (The Stand)

...sometimes there is absolutely no difference at all between salvation and damnation. - Stephen King (The Green Mile)

There is no more desire to live past one's time than to die before it. - Isaac Asimov (Foundation's Edge)

All is bad that is imposed from without. - Isaac Asimov (Foundation and Earth)

It is our choices,…that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. - J.K Rowling (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets)

The world turns, that’s all. You can hold on and turn with it, or stand up to protest and be spun right off. - Stephen King (The Stand)

I can't believe the news today
Oh, I can't close my eyes and make it go away
How long...
How long must we sing this song?
- U2 (Sunday Bloody Sunday)

A body’s life went by so fast…how was it a body could get tired of living? - Stephen King (The Stand)

The idea of dying, of no longer being, began to fascinate me. Not to exist any longer. Not to feel the horrible pains in my foot. Not to feel anything, neither weariness, nor cold, nor anything. - Elie Wiesel (Night)

For men almost always follow in the footsteps of others, imitation being a leading principle of human behaviour. - Niccolo Machiavelli (The Prince)

The Creator made women to please the eye and trouble the mind - Robert Jordan (The Fires of Heaven)

He told me that, in Japan, they don’t believe that people don’t die of old age or a natural death. They believe that they just get tired of a livin’. - Claude Brown (Manchild in the Promised Land)

We are so small and new and confused, we human beings. - Whitley Strieber (Transformation: The Breakthrough)

The World Needs A Hero!

This is a continuation of my previous post as I felt it was becoming too long. So here is my second story. This one is not humourous like the first one but rather it illustrates the degradation of society. Again it takes place as I was walking to work, only a dozen or so yards metres from the first incident.

I was on the right most side of a group of weary-eyed morning commuters when some yahoo cut in front of all of us on an angle. The group was avoiding a puddle so I followed suit and was a couple steps away from a barricade on the right when this guy went by me. The space he tried to get through was apparently not big enough for him to go through and we bumped shoulders. No big deal, it happens all the time, especially in crowds. I continued on forgetting the entire incident when I felt a smack to the back of my head. It was the yahoo who bumped into me.

Despite what you might think by reading my posts, I don’t consider myself confrontational. I don’t attack people when they do stupid things but rather I just ignore them and curse to my friends or write a post about it. This time I was not going to let it go. I turned around and confronted this yahoo but he backed away and headed to where he dropped his bag. When I reached him he wasn’t as tough as when my back was to him so nothing further happened.

Who does that though? Who goes on the attack for a mere shoulder bump? I guess this just shows where this world is heading. Our first reaction is turning towards aggression not compassion or benevolence. I don’t really see why we’re trying to save humanity because in all honesty, there isn’t much humanity left in this world.

Stupid Is As Stupid Does!

Well, I am sitting at work, practically bored to tears again so I thought I should write something to occupy my time. I re-thought my driving lessons series and decided to cancel them after the pilot episode. I didn’t find them very effective since last night some idiot decided a red light was not really meant for him and continued to turn his truck and the 80 foot flatbed trailer he was hauling behind him while I was going straight through an intersection on a very green light. Anyhow, I digress. Today I am going to write about some recent incidents that happened to me while walking from the train station to work, just to illustrate the degradation of society.

The first episode is perhaps the funniest and truly illustrates how stupid people are. (It would have fit in with my second driving lesson had I continued that poorly written series). Everything this day was as it usually is. I was disturbed from a dream by my alarm way to early in the morning, heck the birds weren’t even up yet; I spent an hour on the train having my sleep disrupted by elbows in my side every five minutes (the length of time it took the idiot beside my to look at the pictures in the paper); and I fought through a crowd of people way too eager to get to work just to get out of the station. Once I survived that, I was on my way to the office, walking as slow as I possibly could of course. A little jaywalking here, some alley hopping there, a jaunt through a parking lot or two and I’m at work. Seems pretty basic but on the day in question the unwritten rules of walking seemed too much for one unlucky individual and she ended up with a story to tell her colleagues.

I was approaching an intersection, walking on the right hand side of the sidewalk, (which, unless I missed a memo somewhere, is the appropriate side to be walking on, just like driving in North America) and noticed two women walking towards me. I stayed my line making it quite clear I was not going to move as I was walking where I should have been. The lady on my right noticed me and stepped further to my right and out of my path creating a gap for me to walk through. With that gap I had no need to take evasive actions and thought I would slip right through with no worries. Would you not think the same? It happens that way all the time and in fact, Hollywood makes fun of that type of occurrence a lot. The second women noticed me, thanks to her friends warning, and instead of walking straight or even taking a step to my left to ensure avoidance, this yahoo took a step to my right and ended up directly in my path. We met as she stepped onto the curb so the resulting collision knocked her backwards off the curb, arms flailing everywhere.

I sort of felt bad at first but as I got to thinking about it, I decided it was her own fault. She was the one who stepped into my path while her friend was smart enough to move. If I am walking on the wrong side of the road and see someone almost twice my size coming towards me with not indication they are going to deviate from their path, I make sure to give them a wide berth. I try not to get into that position in the first place but sometimes it’s unavoidable. By the time I crossed the other corner I was fighting back a bout of laughter.

Driving Lesson 1 - Approaching Intersections

It has become apparent as I drive the short distance from my house to the GO train station that people have forgotten what to do when approaching intersections. I'd like to share my knowledge and enilighten the ignorant.

Stop Lights:

When approaching an intersection one may come across a set of indicator lights. A red light at an intersection means stop. It's really that simple. For those who want to turn right on a red light, they may do so only when there are no cars approaching the intersection. This is really not rocket science, after all, they let 16 year olds get behind the wheel of vehicles.



Stop Signs:

When one approaches a stop sign they are to come to a complete stop (I believe the drivers handbook even says that one is required to wait three seconds after stopping before resuming). There is no such thing as a stoptional stop sign; drivers are required to stop at all stop signs.

There are various other little nuances with respect to stop signs but I don't want to cofuse anyone so I'll let this sink in before adding anything too complicated. This is the end of driving lesson 1, lesson 2 will be on multi-lane driving.

Picture Perfect

There is nothing worse then when food looks better than it tastes. The Tin Roof Brownie Blizzard Cake from Dairy Queen does not fall into this category. Being a member of the blizzard fan club (yes, they have a blizzard fan club), I am privy to occasional emails from Dairy Queen promoting a blizzard as the “Blizzard of the Month”. This month I received an email advertising the “Blizzard of the Month” as, you guessed it, the Tin Roof Brownie Blizzard. Included in the email was a picture of the blizzard and the blizzard cake to entice the recipient. The picture worked; I was totally captivated by the cake and almost ran out the door and bought one right then. I didn't buy one then but yesterday circumstances allowed and, let me tell you, the cake was as good as advertised, if not better.

Welcome to my Universe

Yesterday someone asked how my universe was going. To that I basically replied nothing has changed and left it at that. I thought since I have not posted to this blog much in the past few months, I should expand on the status quo answer.

I stand by my answer that nothing in my life has changed. I still have the same job, same wife and same kid. Job still sucks, wife still works crazy hours so I don’t see her much and my son still doesn’t let me make dinner (although he is becoming quite the little man). The journey to and from work each day is perhaps the worst of all, although my actual job is a close second. People on the train still smack me with their purses, bags, newspapers, feet, arms, elbows, and their entire body in general. Unfortunately, no super models have smacked me with their breasts on the train but there is still hope. Once off the train and on my feet, people still cut me off (to which I end up walking on them or tripping them up because it is hard to stop a hippo once it’s in motion), and people still walk into me (sometimes just shoulder bumps and other times the result is a little more amusing, to me). When I get to work I continue to do mindless work that I have to explain to those coworkers I work closely with several times a week.

As for the few hours of fun I get at the end of each week, I still travel up the QEW to see the Bandits play at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, I saw my first hockey game at the Air Canada Centre last week, and I was able to attend Friday Night Fights at the Rogers Centre (the Jays home opener). Why are there fights at a baseball game? I don’t know. I guess the ‘fans’ were outraged that they paid money to watch these men, who make more money per pitch then they make in a week, play a child’s game. Oh wait, I forgot to mention the idiot that wanted to race me and my 4 cylinder car down the 407 in his/her (couldn’t see the driver) midsize V6 car. I should have raced; I just know I would have won.

So that is the long and short of my life.

March 2008 Quotes

The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person's determination. - Tommy Lasorda

Love is an attempt to change a piece of a dream world into a reality. - Theodore Reik

Fortune favours the brave. - Publis Terrence

In wars, boy, fools kill other fools for foolish causes. - Robert Jordan (The Eye of the World)

’Lydia’, he said, and wet his lips again.
‘What, darling?’
‘I have suspected something for many years. Now I am sure.’
‘My poor Morris! What?’
‘There is no God,’ Morris said, and fainted.
- Stephen King (Apt Pupil)

Looking back, we see it is often casual choices which chart a path to tragedy. - Anne Rule (The Stranger Beside Me)

A man who loves money is a bastard, someone to be hated. A man who can’t take care of it is a fool. You don’t hate him, but you got to pity him. - Stephen King (The Stand)

In one ultimate moment of lucidity it seemed to me that we were damned souls wandering in the half-world, souls condemned to wander through space till the generations of man came to an end, seeking their redemption, seeking oblivion – without hope of finding it. - Elie Wiesel (Night)

We are all born mad. Some remain so. - Samuel Beckett (Waiting for Godot)

Man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. - Darryl Brock (If I Never Get Back)

A man’s mouth gets him in more trouble than his pecker ever could, most of the time. - Stephen King (The Green Mile)

And I don’t believe that people automatically have a right to what they want, no matter how badly they want it. Not every thirst should be slaked. Some things are just wrong. - Stephen King (Bag of Bones)

Once crazy goes past a certain point, you’re on a turnpike with no exit ramps. - Stephen King (Bag of Bones)

Consider well the seed from which you grew;
you were not formed to live like animals
but rather to pursue virtue and knowledge.
- Dante

The fatal tendency of mankind to leave off thinking about a thing when it is no longer doubtful, is the cause of half their errors. - John Stuart Mill (On Liberty)

One who holds a true belief without intelligence is just like a blind man who happens to take the right road... - Francis MacDonald Cornford (The Republic of Plato)

Nobody controls his own life,…The best you can do is choose to fill the roles given you by good people, people who love you. - Orson Scott Card (Ender's Game)

…people need to strive. They are happiest when they are working toward a goal. - Bob Cullen (Why Golf?)

…most natives,…saw life as a journey. What one did was not a statement about whether the person was good or bad. It was more a reflection about where one was on the journey and an indication of what had to be learned if the journey was to continue. - Tony Hollihan (Great Chiefs: Volume 1)

How harmful overspecialization is. It cuts knowledge at a million points and leaves it bleeding. - Isaac Asimov (Prelude to Foundation)

The closer to the truth, the better the lie, and the truth itself, when it can be used, is the best lie. - Isaac Asimov (Foundation's Edge)

Maximum Frosting

I was in a nasty mood Saturday and needed something to binge on. Looking through the cupboards came up with nothing. No chips, no cookies, no chocolate, no nothing. I wandered the house aimlessly looking for something to help cheer me up but again I came up empty. Back to searching the cupboard for me.

On the second pass through the food cupboard I noticed a tub of chocolate frosting that had successfully hid from me the first time. This was no ordinary tub of frosting though; it was one of the oversized tubs us chocolate lovers use to smoother our Duncan Hines cakes with (or are they Better Crocker cakes, whatever). After a short thought, I figured I shouldn’t just sit down and go to work on the tub of frosting because I was sure to polish it off. I doubt the wife would be too impressed when she got home from work and discovered me sprawled on my back in front of the TV with an empty tub of frosting being tossed around by the cat.

In the end, I decided I should bake a cake and just eat any remaining frosting. So off I went to bake a cake. Unfortunately, we don’t have the round pans I am used to so I had to bake the cake in a 9x13 pan. Little did I know at the start of this baking adventure that this size of pan was going to help me maximize my frosting to cake ratio. I assembled the ingredients and mixed them all together, strictly adhering to the instructions on the box, and put the thick chocolate mess into the oven to cook. I then started brainstorming how I could make this rectangular shaped cake into a masterpiece.

When I was done, my cake was far from a masterpiece but it sure tasted good. Instead of cutting the cake into fours and spreading frosting between every layer like I was envisioning, I just cut the cake in half. I then spread frosting on the bottom of both halves, stood them on their cut ends with the frosting acting as glue, and proceeded to spread icing on all visible surfaces. Before I was done, there was icing on every surface except the bottom and the bottom was only about four inches in width, tapering in at the edges. Every bite yields ample frosting. The only downside to it all was that I was so excited about spreading a plethora of frosting on the cake that all I left myself to eat was a small tablespoon. Ah well, the little bit of frosting still tasted wonderful and the cake is perhaps the best cake (from a box) that I have ever had.

Lost Time

As I emerged from a meeting this afternoon, a person from my past crept back into my mind. It wasn't exactly the person that tickled my memory but rather what this person said after a similarly boring meeting a couple years ago: “there is one hour of my life I would like to get back”. Yet again I am left to wonder why I am even a part of these meetings.

February 2008 Quotes

hard work is what separates good from great. - Dan Dawson

Be curious always! For knowledge will not acquire you; you must acquire it. - Sudie Black

When things go wrong, you'll find they usually go on getting worse for some time; but when things once start going right they often go on getting better and better. - C.S. Lewis (The Magician's Nephew)

We need people in our lives with whom we can be as open as possible. To have real conversation with people may seem like such a simple, obvious suggestion, but it involves courage and risk. - Thomas Moore

Other things may change us, but we start and end with family. - Anthony Brandt

What another would have done as well as you, do not do it. What another would have said as well as you, do not say it; written as well, do not write it. Be faithful to that which exists nowhere but in yourself…and thus make yourself indispensable. - Andre Gide

The great tragedy in life is not death but never having lived. - Edgar Dale

I have always believed that if an adult has thought carefully about his future, then he knows what is best for himself. - Pierre Elliott Trudeau

To test what is true, you must listen to your heart, your inner voice, for that is where the spiritual world is usually manifested. - Darryl Brock

Nobody has ever domesticated mankind. We are thus a wild species, as wild as the day we first went howling across the savanna. - Whitley Strieber (Communion)

And when I leave this planet, y'know I'd stay but I just can't stand it - Oasis (Half the World Away)

Saying goodbye, why is it sad?
Makes us remember the good times we've had
Much more to say, foolish to try
It's time for saying goodbye.
- "Saying Goodbye" from The Muppets Take Manhattan

I’m convinced...that there are some things you have to do decisively, without cooperative federalism. You’ve got to do it alone, otherwise it will never be done. - Pierre Elliott Trudeau

Others have it worse than me…which is not to say this is good, don’t get that idea, but others have it worse. - Stephen King (Apt Pupil)

What if I could give it back to you?
Pluck out the pain...
...and give you another life?
One you could never imagine.
- from Interview With a Vampire

Send me better men to deal with and I will be a better man. - John Alexander Macdonald

I believe that we are successful when our ways are suited to the times and circumstances, and unsuccessful when they are not. - Niccolo Machiavelli (The Prince)

Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless. - Mother Teresa

Treat a child as though he already is the person he's capable of becoming. - Haim Ginott

Escape is Possible!

A room, once blossoming with light is now encased in deep, dark shadows. Shadows that for the past several months, maybe even years, were trying to creep out from the every corner, ooze out of every crack in the walls and scale down every wall to unleash its ravenous desires and suffocate the inhabitants. The most recent occupant fought not only the dark force in the room but also those disguised in sheep’s clothing that secretly promoted the advance of darkness. With admirable effort this beautiful warrior defeated the persistent darkness daily and resisted the nothingness that the shadows offered.

While battling her own demons, this warrior still found time for others in need, even when those needs paled in comparison to her own. She found solace in helping others. By helping us common folk overcome our obstacles, great and small, her true calling revealed itself. It became clear to her that pushing papers doused in red ink was among the last things she wanted to spend her days doing, despite the startling contrast the red made on her workplace. This warrior worked endlessly to gain the knowledge necessary to pursue her dreams and after many months of searching, her path diverged. With minimal hesitation she “took the one less traveled by”.

So with a heavy heart our noble warrior left the shadows behind and, holding her head high, walked onward to greater things. As she walked away, her eyes hid nothing. It pained her to leave the weaker of us to fend off the shadows alone. But those she did leave behind know the struggles she faced and are beaming with ecstasy for this fearless warrior in her victory over the darkness. They are hoping she has found that elusive utopia we all seek. Although it is a good bye of sorts, they will never forget her and hope the same in return.

Similar to the Robert Frost poem quoted above and below (The Road Not Taken): she

…shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

To our fearless warrior, good luck and please keep in touch.